Monday, 14th December, 2015

Von Ether. Oh cheers, now worries. Misunderstanding now understood. ;) I certainly was not flaming either. I thought you meant 4E had easy creature stats and Cypher did not. I haven't seen an easier system, especially on the fly. But thanks for clarification. Yes, the 2 have taken some very different approaches.

Thursday, 9th May, 2019

It definitely reads like something done by a high school student or a lazy intern lol
Hey! I wrote that!
Just kidding.
I dunno, the Dutch generally speak better English than the natives! Let’s just just call this what it probably is. Someone tried to avoid doing original work and got caught.
Or someone was under a corporate deadline...nah. Elder Scrolls 6 is at seven years and counting, so I don't think things are terribly rushed around there.
Wasn't there an Old Spice ad for a new D&D class and they had to re-edit it to make it OGL legit and all that?
The Gentleman? If it's anything like the Most Interesting Man in the World, it is the ONLY D&D class I'm playing from here on out.

Wasn't there an Old Spice ad for a new D&D class and they had to re-edit it to make it OGL legit and all that?
The Gentlemen. I'm not sure if they actually pulled that because it wasn't OGL compliant or just because actual D&D players pointed out it didn't actually work (the original class was a mish-mash of 3.x, Pathfinder, and 5e rules and terms). Paizo got together with them and helped them create a version for Pathfinder that...well, I don't want to say "works" because that implies it's remotely balanced for play or useful in an actual game, but it at least functions within the rules if someone did want to play it.

Thursday, 25th April, 2019

Considering that was the question above, you answered the opposite.
I thought the "other" was referring to OBS, I didn't realize you were referring to WotC. I was reading the paragraphs as being unrelated (since they are). Really I just read it too quickly. I think that is obvious by this point, but it seemed liked you wanted a clarification - so I gave one! Cheers!

That is literally what the first paragraph of what quoted post says. But it's not the question I'm asking.
This is the post I was responding too:
"So I wonder how many people who crow, "If it ain't WotC, it ain't official D&D for me and that goes double for the Guild Adepts to boot," are going to change their minds when it comes to this product?
I wonder when OBS is going to let other companies offer POD for their community content projects?"
I don't see how the first paragraph says what I said. However, I do see where you specified "community content projects," which I missed. Of course I did mention that they allow it for DMs Guild, so I kinda answered that too.

Wednesday, 24th April, 2019

If a creator is doing their own thing outside of a community content program (like an OGL or original game system), they have complete control of their PDFs on OBS, which includes POD, which is what I think you are referring too.
But to clarify, there are several Community Content programs (Cypher, Storytell, Traveller, 7th Sea, CoC, etc) other than the DM's Guild. These programs don't allow community creators the same level of control of their PDFs. For example, the parent company (like WotC) can put a CC PDF on sale, but the original creator can not.
At this time and to my knowledge, only DM Guild PDFs have a POD option. I'm guessing that OBS uses the DM Guild as a pilot program before they offer these services to other Community Content programs. Hence my question, when is OBS going to offer this option for the other programs.
OBS allows OGL content to be POD through DriveThruRPG.

So I wonder how many people who crow, "If it ain't WotC, it ain't official D&D for me and that goes double for the Guild Adepts to boot," are going to change their minds when it comes to this product?
I wonder when OBS is going to let other companies offer POD for their community content projects?
They already do allow POD. Anything on DriveThruRPG can be published POD and select titles on the DMs Guild are available for POD too. The POD on DMs Guild is still a trial basis I believe so you have to go through a bit more to get it done, but it is possible.

Don't forget that RPG extrodinare, Ken Hite also has a Hellenistika KS on the way. https://handiwork.games/hellenistika
Honestly comparing Hellenistika and Odyssey of the Dragonlords, I'm leaning heavily towards Hellenistika, it's got the Greek flavour, but a much broader setting for one thing.
For another +$5000 for +1 Monster, really, even if the art was half of that, it's one or two pages max. For $5000 it should be more like 10 monsters.

Friday, 19th April, 2019

Don't forget that RPG extrodinare, Ken Hite also has a Hellenistika KS on the way. https://handiwork.games/hellenistika
I don't have the budget for two such projects like this, and that Ken Hite one looks amazing, especially knowing that he's probably going to go nuts with alternate history ideas for the ancient world.
Hmmm.

Monday, 15th April, 2019

Simply put, when something risky is being done the GM tells the player to remove a piece. If the tower falls, they die somehow.
The GM has to manage the pacing a bit and you'd hope that players wouldn't fight each other (it did in our one-shot.)
And one-shots is pretty much the game's wheelhouse. I can see that without a PC you have opinions about, the game could be more about the player projecting themselves onto their avatar.
This necessitates a very specific kind of TTRPG, I think. I don't see how Jenga-as-arbiter in this fashion could be implemented for a traditional D&D game, for example. Further, I agree that if the tower's fall indicates PC death, one-shots are pretty much the only way to make use of this as a resolution mechanic.

Monday, 25th March, 2019

Sunday, 24th March, 2019

Exactly. Which means the right technology isn't really there yet to make this an option, hence why I am still waiting for it.
What technology are you waiting for? A card with a unique code that can be redeemed for a digital product is already available.
All you have to do is a print a card with a unique code (number, QR, bar code, etc) on it and have your online store be able to track the code for a specific product (which many platforms can already do).

Saturday, 23rd March, 2019

Except you still don't a physical product that you can put on a shelf or sell at the table during a show.
Gaming is an impulse buy. If they want to buy your core print book and three PDF adventures, you can sell them the book and three cards right there at GenCon. When they get home, they might forget (or at GenCon already have blown their budget.)
I'm talking about a delivery system, not a method of payment.
So you mean like a code or coupon card? You can do that already, but it's expensive since you would have to have the cards/coupons custom made and then you would have to setup all the coupons in your (presumably) online store. And then you will find that people will hack your code system and then people will be stealing your PDFs and then the people who bought the real codes will get mad since your online system will tell them the code is invalid...
I'm trying to think of products/companies that have done that in the past. I think it was popular in the 90's, for a very brief time ...

I'm waiting for someone to put together the infrastructure of selling a scratch off card that gives the buyer access to a PDF.
They are called Visa Gift Cards. You go to one of probably a million different stores, pay in advance for them, then you go to your favorite PDF seller and buy the PDF you want and use the Visa card to pay for it.
Novel huh?

Friday, 22nd March, 2019

If a sci-fi element falls in the woods and a player doesn't hear it, does it exist. Or does that make it a Schrodinger's element? That might have been a thing to some of the past games I played in. If a GM had sci-fi elements in a game and we never bumped into them, they pretty much didn't exist but for the GM.
That's why if I have something like that in the games I run, I put them front and center because I want the players to engage in them. Not that either way is right or wrong (other GMs may be saving the sci-fi as a plot twist in the game.) In my case they've met (and sometimes destroyed!) some of the sci-fi elements already; and unless the story takes a fairly significant left turn at some point - which is always possible - those elements and others will I hope become much more significant later.
And, by later I might mean years from now. As DM of a long-running campaign I have to look at the long-term angles, and only release "now" what has to be released now while saving the rest...

I most hear about this divide as a reason why a GM is not allowing psionics in their game. To them, psionics is one step too far, unless you dress it up as a more mystical thing.Strange - I ditched psionics but I've got all sorts of sci-fi elements in my medieval fantasy D&D game (most of which haven't been met by the players/PCs yet, but some key ones have).
But PC psionics I just couldn't make work right, not as written nor after several ground-up redesigns, and so I finally dropped them completely as PC abilities. Some iconic monsters e.g. demons, mind flayers, aboleths and so forth still have psionics but - and hint! if any of my players ever read this - note that none of those are native to the prime material...

Monday, 11th March, 2019

Those tables were done on a typewriter.
I'm in awe of that level of patience and lack of mistakes.
If only he could spell "invisible." ;)
-snip-
Did the D&D writers just pick a "magical" word at random for this group of spells?
Anyone have any ideas about this? It's always kinda bugged me.
One need only look at the 1e Magic-user class level titles to know the answer to that is a hearty "yes." hahaha 3rd level? "Enchanter." 7th level? "Necromancer." Conjurer and Evoker are both in there. "Spellbinder," I think was one. Magician. Warlock. So, yeah. "Take a magical word referring to a magical thing and we'll just stick that in."
Defining the school, and then further "flavors" of arcane magic and types of magical practice is really a 2e and significantly more 3+e thing.

Friday, 8th March, 2019

I calling it that the entry was written by a Baby Boomer about 20 years ago.
And I can understand that want to see someone like you represented in your hobby. It's a discussion we've been examining and expanding for the last few years.
And believe me, friends and I have been wondering how we are going to smuggle our dice into the nursing home.
To be clear, I see plenty of people like me represented in the hobby. I mean, Mike Mearls, Chris Perkins, and even that young fellow Jeremy Crawford all have some miles on the odometer.
I just think that "gamers of a certain age" have a sense of humor that is perhaps generational, or experiential. I agree with the comment above that it would be great to see Colbert at the table, but that dude doesn't have the free time, alas.

I calling it that the entry was written by a Baby Boomer about 20 years ago.
And I can understand that want to see someone like you represented in your hobby. It's a discussion we've been examining and expanding for the last few years.
And believe me, friends and I have been wondering how we are going to smuggle our dice into the nursing home.
This is why I want to see Stephen Colbert pick up the dice again...

Monday, 25th February, 2019

I already backed the Arkadia: The Mythic Greek Setting (5e), which claims to start delivering the goods in March.
But the one I am most excited about is Hellenistika from Ken Hite, which will be 5e and probably 13th Age with a stretch goal.
There is also Age of Myth which you can still join through Backerkit